A wildfire caused millions in damages in Napa County. A winery worker is accused of causing it
-
Click here to listen to this article - Share via
See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search. Set us as preferred
- A Napa County gardener is accused of sparking last summer’s Pickett fire near Calistoga, a 6,800-acre blaze that destroyed structures and caused more than $6 million in losses.
- Prosecutors say Juan Luis Gutierrez Marfil recklessly ignited the wildfire by dumping hot ashes in a burn pile, and have charged him with a felony ahead of a Sept. 9 arraignment.
- The Pickett fire inflicted an estimated $65 million in agricultural losses, mostly to Napa Valley wine grapes, and sparked lawsuits over smoke-ruined harvests that the winery’s owner vehemently disputes.
A man who worked as a gardener at a prestigious California winery is accused of igniting a wildfire that caused millions of dollars’ worth of damage and tens of millions’ worth of agricultural losses in Napa County.
The blaze, dubbed the Pickett fire, started near Calistoga last August and burned 6,800 acres over the course of 17 days, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Juan Luis Gutierrez Marfil, 45, of Napa, was charged Thursday with one felony count of recklessly causing a fire of a structure or forest, the Napa County district attorney’s office said in a statement. The offense caused more than $6 million in losses, prosecutors allege.
According to charging documents, Marfil admitted to Cal Fire law enforcement “the disposing of hot ashes into a burn pile,” which allegedly ultimately sparked the blaze.
California fire investigators have questioned staff at a prestigious Napa Valley winery about the start of the almost 7,000-acre Pickett fire, which is still burning. A source told The Times that they were looking at the possibility that discarded ashes from the vineyard sparked the major fire.
An arraignment hearing is scheduled for Sept. 9, according to prosecutors.
Sam Singer, a spokesperson for Hundred Acre Wines, said Marfil was working as a contracted gardener when the fire broke out. He was carried over as a worker from Kelly Fleming Wines, which owned the vineyard property at 2339 Pickett Road before Hundred Acre acquired it in 2024, Singer said.
The fire started in the 2300 block of Pickett Road and destroyed five structures, according to Cal Fire. Four were outbuildings and one was a residential structure, according to the charging documents.
In a statement Thursday, the Napa County agricultural commissioner’s office said preliminary reports showed agricultural producers saw roughly $65 million in agricultural losses from the Pickett fire. Most of the damage was to wine grapes, but some damage to beehives was also reported.
Researchers from Japan’s Tohoku University published a granular investigation of California viticulture in a changing climate and found a redrawn map of prime wine regions.
Three winemakers earlier this month filed suit against the owner of Hundred Acre Wines, Jayson Woodbridge, and his company alleging that smoke from the wildfire ruined their harvests, the Press Democrat reported.
Hundred Acre denied the claims and said it plans to “vigorously defend” itself in court. The company, through Singer, said the lawsuit contained “unproven” allegations about the cause of the fire and who is responsible for the winemakers’ alleged losses.
More From the Los Angeles Times
Podcasts
In this episode, we bring you the update on how an Altadena resident and her neighborhood are coming along, plus a re-run of the two-part series we did on the Poppyfields people back in June.
The Hillside Strangler murders terrorized Los Angeles in the late 1970s. The killers were a pair of sadistic cousins. One confessed. The other was set to stand trial—until L.A. prosecutors flinched.
Hosts Fidel Martínez and Suzy Exposito sit down with Lorely Rodriguez –aka Empress Of– indie pop singer, songwriter, and producer, for a conversation about identity, resilience, and her new album Dream House, made while simultaneously rebuilding an actual house in Altadena alongside her mom.
